Last year, Clark told you that Time Warner had been experimenting with metered Internet. In doing so, the consumer champ believes the cable giant revealed a hidden agenda: To penalize those who wanted to watch free TV over the Internet -- instead of paying for monthly cable service.

Time Warner was set to charge $150/month for the kind of unlimited Internet access plan that would allow people to use Hulu, YouTube or any other free TV site.

But thanks to public outcry, the cable monopoly is now backing down from that plan.

Of course, Time Warner never admitted their motive behind metered Internet was to block access to free TV. But why wouldn't they want to? Such a move keeps the revenue coming from customers paying a monthly cable bill.

Meanwhile, Time Warner is rolling out a new technology called DOCSIS 3.0 (Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification) in select markets. D3 essentially super-charges your Internet connection for a one-time fee of $6.85 per residence…and that would enable customers to access free TV over the Internet faster than ever before.

Monopolies can temporarily try to put a chokehold on the market, but technology ultimately wins out. We as Americans have been subject to higher service costs and shoddy customer service from the cable industry ever since an ill-fated 1977 Congressional decision allowed for the establishment of monopoly cable enterprises. But the march of technology will overcome prior political error.